Traffic study supports Main closure

A traffic study supports H-E-B’s proposal to close a block of South Main Avenue, from César E. Chávez Boulevard to Arsenal Street, for a grocery store and, ultimately, its corporate expansion.

That’s right: closing the street will actually improve traffic circulation in the area around H-E-B’s headquarters in the old U.S. arsenal. This is dependent upon as much as $4 million in street upgrades, which H-E-B would have to finance, according to the city.

The study also shows that the majority of people who use the street — pedestrians, cyclists or motorists — use it to access H-E-B headquarters.

The city-commissioned study, which H-E-B will ultimately pay for, street closure or not, is an acknowledgement from the city that it supports H-E-B’s proposal — a $100 million corporate expansion, which includes a grocery store and gas station, in exchange for the street closure. A pedestrian pathway and bike lane also is planned for the east side of South Flores Street, to help alleviate that kind of traffic coming from out of Arsenal.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal Dec. 5.

North Carolina-based engineering firm Kimley-Horn and Associates conducted the study.